RETIRe FROM 1 his career. This year’s squad placed fourth in the 3A state tournament but, before that, had claimed four of the past five state championships. Presently, the Hornets have won 49 consecutive league dual matches. Reichert’s peers recognized something special and, in 2010, he was elected to the Washington State Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame. “I was honored to be a part of that,” he said. “Those are very special men in the sport of wrestling.” Through his 37 years of putting kids on mats, Reichert has maintained a belief that coaching doesn’t end with the final buzzer. His wrestlers have become an extended family and he expects them to share the sentiment. “Success in coaching comes from building relationships with kids,” he said. “It’s about loving competition and sharing
CALL FROM 1 and she would fall backward. Doctors hadn’t been able to find the cause, she said. She regained consciousness on the floor next to her bathtub, unable to pick herself up. The water — long cold now — had begun flowing over the edges of the tub basin, cascading over her exposed body. Clark remembered her Lifeline, the medical alert bracelet her daughter had purchased a few years before for just such an emergency. She pressed the button. Nothing. Again. Nothing. She stayed that way for more than 10 hours, shouting at the top of her lungs for help. “I kept telling myself, ‘Dorothy, you’re a very strong person,’” Clark said. “I knew I was going to die of hypothermia if I didn’t get out of there soon.”
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“Success in coaching comes from building relationships with kid. It’s about loving competition and sharing goals.”
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goals.” The connection goes so deep, Reichert is certain he knows exactly what former wrestlers are thinking when the two pass on downtown streets. And he’s sure the former Hornets know what’s going through the coach’s mind. The lifetime bond is built on a simple philosophy, “You can count on me. Can I count on you?” When he talks about his wrestlers, Reichert gets emotional. “It’s a family approach,” he said. “When you need help, they help you. You have a connection.” That’s a building block of Reichert’s success.
“Teams that don’t have that, they can’t beat you,” he said. While Reichert is associated with wrestling, he left his mark on athletes in other sports, too. He spent a dozen seasons as co-coach of the Hornet fastpitch team and, for two years, guided the EHS soccer team. With coaching in his past, there are other things that will occupy Reichert’s time. He loves to hunt birds and fish for salmon and, even more important, there are grandchildren to spend time with. High school students will remain a part of his life, as Reichert will keep his teaching job with the Muckleshoot tribal school. It’s a post he’ll keep “until I just don’t want to do it anymore.” With a legendary coaching career now in his rearview mirror, Reichert assumes the role of a dedicated fan, guaranteeing he’ll still keep tabs on the Hornet fortunes. “You can’t just walk away completely,” he said.
Finally, a neighbor heard her cries and called the fire department. Two months later, Clark is physically unscathed from her fall and is biding her time in a temporary senior living apartment while her home is repaired for water damage. But she’s piping mad at the installers of her Lifeline bracelet. It’s not that the bracelet failed. The Philips Lifeline medical alert bracelet works by transmitting its signal to a receiver connected to the owner’s landline phone. But if there’s no dial tone — as was the case after Clark took her phones off the hook — the signal won’t go through to the service’s staff. This aspect of the device, Clark said, was never properly explained to her. “If I were a salesman, I’d take the phone off the hook and say ‘If your phone’s off the hook like this, it won’t work,’” she said. “How hard
is that?” She added that she thought the explanation should have especially been given since she is sight impaired, and could not readily read the instruction manual. After the incident, Marcia Meneghini was helping out at her friend Clark’s home when she noticed the state of the phones. She replaced the receivers when the Lifeline system buzzed and a call immediately came through inquiring whether there had been a fall. Menegheni confirmed and told the representative the incident was over. What annoyed Marie Brokenicky, Clark’s daughter, was that the whole situation could have been avoided with just a little more information about phone accessories on the market, she said. “I was told after the fact — from the phone company, not the Lifeline people
— that there’s a device that connects to the phone that would allow the medical alert to work even when the phone is off the hook,” Brokenicky said, speaking during a trip to visit her mother. “It’s not expensive; only $100 or so. And we really would have appreciated knowing that was an option.” Clark does not plan to pursue litigation against Philips, she said, but she will be contacting the Better Business Bureau. “I want other people to know the situation, so what happened to me won’t happen to them,” she said. Philips Co.’s media communications department did not respond to requests for comment.
Lee Reichert, Enumclaw wrestling coach
TONI McCULLOUGH Toni Marie McCullough died Feb. 27, 2013. She was born in Pascagoula, Miss., and spent most of her childhood in Southern C a l i fornia before moving to the Buc k le y area in the late 1980s Toni McCullough w i t h her husband. She was employed by Boeing until her retirement. She was passionate about learning about life and spent the past year on a journey facing cancer and her immortality. She read, studied and practiced many spiritual beliefs, always coming to the place that all is love and light. She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Michael; sons Darren and Danny;
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Diane Smith Teel died Jan. 7, 2013, following a long battle with breast cancer. She was born Nov. 26, 1943, in California to Leon and Zoe Smith. The family moved to Enumclaw in 1950 and she graduated from Enumclaw High in 1961. At Pepperdine College she married Paul Teel. The family made their home in Boise, Idaho, where she taught emotionally handicapped children.
Lifetime Buckley resident Jack Edward Bonato died March 7, 2013, at his home. He was 64. He was born Aug. 6, 1948, in Auburn. He spent 25 years working as an educator, teaching in Carbonado and working as a substitute teacher in both Carbonado and Enumclaw. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army and a member of the Buckley Eagles. He is survived by brothers Chuck Bonato and wife Becky and Dwight Partin. A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. Friday, March 15, at the Buckley Eagles. There will be a private burial. Arrangements are by Weeks’ Funeral Home.
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daughter-in-law Lisa; and five grandchildren. A celebration of her life is planned for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at Genesis Farm and Garden, 41925 236th Ave. S.E. in Enumclaw. Light refreshments will be served after the ceremony. Donations may be made in her name to Multi-Care Good Samaritan’s Comfort Therapy Program, 3901 S. Fife St., Tacoma, 98415.
She is survived by husband Paul; daughters Susan Kuehl and husband Kenny and Mindy Tiber and husband David; mother Zoe; sister Denise Dunkle and husband Chris; and four grandchildren.
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